


Wild Kingdom

by Nomme_de_Plume



Series: The Pursued, the Pursuing - AU [5]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Other, Voyeur Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-20
Updated: 2012-03-20
Packaged: 2017-11-02 06:58:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/366210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nomme_de_Plume/pseuds/Nomme_de_Plume
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A non-kinky voyeurism prompt, one-shot, just for some light-hearted fun. Rickon goes exploring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wild Kingdom

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of our AU set during Prohibition in the US, and is set before 'The Pursued, The Pursuing' which, if you haven't read, you should give it a whirl.

_I’m bored. Bored, bored, bored, bored,  __BORED._ Rickon picked up a fallen branch from a tree and whacked against the trunk lazily, grinning a bit at the way the bark slivers shattered off it. He did it again and again, but after the third time the branch broke and it wasn’t fun anymore. Riverrun was so boring in the summer. He wanted to go up to Winterfell and play in the old lodges up there with Jon. He used to play with Bran, but then the accident happened and Bran was boring to play with now, too.  
  
He planted a foot in the crotch of two boughs, hauling himself up and winding between the gnarled branches of an old oak tree on the edge of the yard. There was a spot just...there. He could see the river from here. Robb had said it was high this summer - all the rain in the spring that had ruined Rickon’s recesses and soccer games had turned the usually quiet river into something that was foamy and white, and Mama wouldn’t let him swim in it anymore either. _If Dad were here he’d let me. He’d take me out on the sailboat and let me steer and everything._ But his Dad wasn’t there either, not today. He was at work, even though it was Saturday, and Mama was up at the house, and Osha was in town. Robb was supposed to be watching Rickon, but he had no idea where his big brother had gone and didn’t much care. _It’s his fault I’m so bored. If he would play with me like he’s supposed to I wouldn’t be._  
  
Rickon heard a snuffling from the base of the tree and looked down to see his black mutt peering up at him, head cocked. “Hi Shaggydog.” The animal whined as he scampered back down the oak tree and wrapped his arms around the dog’s scruffy neck. “Ugh, you smell. You were in the compost again, weren’t you?”  
  
The dog didn’t respond. He never did. Rickon sighed and picked up the broken stick again, flinging it into the cool green of the woods that ran along the river. Shaggydog barked once and took off after it, crashing noisily through the underbrush and disappearing. “Shaggy!” Rickon called after a moment. “Here, Shaggydog!” When, after several more minutes, the dog didn’t reappear Rickon sighed and trudged after him. “Shaggydog, come ! He pounded a hand on his thigh, a noise that usually brought the dog running. Nothing.  
  
Rickon made his way further into the woods, pushing bushes and small trees out of the way. He wasn’t scared of getting lost - he knew these woods like the back of his hand even if Mama didn’t want him here by himself. _It’ll be Robb’s fault if I get hurt anyway._ A familiar dark face poked out of a raspberry bush suddenly, a slobbery broken branch clenched between his teeth. “Shaggy!” Rickon pulled the branch from the dog’s mouth and went to throw it again, but something stopped him. Voices. Someone was laughing. Far away, but Rickon had always had good hearing. He held his finger to his lips, motioning for Shaggydog to follow him. “Shhh.”  
  
The two of them crept closer to the river, and the voices grew louder. It was a boy and a girl, he could hear that, but he couldn’t tell who it was yet. There was a clearing up ahead, that’s where they were. Rickon crouched behind the fat trunk of a willow tree and waved Shaggydog down so they wouldn’t be seen. He peered around the trunk and his eyes widened.  
  
Robb and that girl he was always with, Roseann or Rebecca or whatever her name was, were in the clearing. They’d clearly had a picnic, and were laying back in the grass. The girl... _Roslin! That’s her name. She’s noisy, remember_. Robb said something to Roslin, and she squealed loudly, swatting at his arm. He laughed and rolled her onto her stomach, gripping her hips and then they were wrestling. It didn’t look like she was trying very hard to win, though. Soon it sounded like she was crying, and Rickon frowned. Why would he make her cry and hurt her if he likes her so much?  
  
Next to him Shaggydog growled quietly, and Rickon waved him down again. “ _Shhh_.” _Maybe Robb would stop soon..._ Rickon thought about going back to the house and asking for a snack, but then Robb gave Roslin’s hair a sharp yank and his jaw dropped. That was bad. He remembered a time when he’d pulled Sansa’s hair and he hadn’t been able to sit for a week by the time Dad was done with him. Rickon made up his mind. Roslin might be loud and talk a lot about stuff he didn’t care about but he wasn’t about to sit around and let Robb pull her hair like that. He stepped out from behind the tree and yelled. “Shaggydog, GET ‘IM!”  
  
He had a split-second of seeing Robb’s panicked, white face turn towards him before the large black mutt leapt on him, knocking him clean off his...well, knees. Rickon ran towards them as Robb yelled, trying to block the growling animal while Roslin rolled onto her side, laughing hysterically. Rickon reached his oldest brother and kicked him hard in the ribs. “Stop hurting Roslin! Daddy says you’re not supposed to pull a girl’s hair because it’s mean, and that you’re supposed to let them win at games and you weren’t doing that either, Robb, you stupid! And your pants are broken too, look at your fly!”  
  
Robb finally pushed Shaggydog off him and stared up at Rickon, bewildered. “How long were you back there, you little runt?”  
  
“Robb, be nice...” Roslin was still giggling, fixing her skirt. “He doesn’t even know what he saw.”  
  
“Yes I do!” Rickon yelled. “I saw you wrestling like Theon did with the kitchen maid that one time and she was crying too, just like you were!” For some reason what he said just made Roslin laugh all the harder.  
  
“C’mon, you.” Robb climbed to his feet, scooping up Rickon and slinging him over his shoulder. “I’m taking you and Shaggy back up to the house for a bath. Look at your pants, they’re filthy! Mother will have your head.”  
  
Rickon struggled mightly, and finally was released when he bit down hard just under Robb’s shoulder blade. “No! I’m telling Mama you were hurting Roslin if you take me back up there! I’m bored , Robb, I want to go to the picture house! Or out for ice cream or both!”  
  
Robb swore violently at the bite, swinging Rickon back down to the ground and glaring at him. “Alright fine. If I take you to a picture and out for ice cream, will you promise never to tell Mother that I was...hurting Roslin?”  
  
Rickon considered. A picture _and_ ice cream.... “Can I get jimmies?”  
  
“You can get whatever you want. Just as long as you promise, on your honor, to never ever tell.”  
  
“Never _ever?_ ”  
  
Robb knelt in front of him, nodding solemnly. “ _Never ever_. With jimmies, and extra whipped cream.”  
  
Rickon broke into a smile. “Deal!” After all, it wasn’t every day you got  a picture  and jimmies _and_ extra whipped cream, was it.


End file.
